


Crux

by Linorien



Series: 007 Fest 2019 [8]
Category: James Bond (Classic movies), James Bond - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Cleese!Q, During Skyfall, Gen, Mentions of Whishaw!Q
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-05-19 07:50:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19352659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linorien/pseuds/Linorien
Summary: A quartermaster, like a captain, would go down with their ship.





	Crux

**Author's Note:**

> Angst prompt table - free space (Sacrifice)  
> For Classic Bond day.

Everyone talked about the sacrifices made by the agents. The noble deaths in the line of duty, the loss of motor functions after taking one bullet wound too many. The loss of a life outside of work was a sacrifice required of all double-ohs that sometimes they didn’t even realise until their heart had been broken. 

No one talked about the sacrifices made in other departments. 

Most of the secretary pool had been agents once. But they had all been faced with a choice. Whether it was family life, or a childhood passion for orchestra, they had sacrificed the glamorous life of an agent for being an underestimated secretary. Even if the training was the same as the intel department, most of the world would simply assume they were human answering machines. 

In accounting, they sacrificed friendship with everyone else in the building. No one liked to hear about budgetary costs and the expense reports for everything were even worse. No one liked the accountants. So they stayed a close knit group and fought the larger government on their behalf. No one would know what under-the-table deals they cut.

The crafters sacrificed their sanity. And probably a better paycheck too. Within MI6 they were constantly working. Some slaved for hours on photoshop, forging new passports and legal documents, others built websites for businesses, fabricating layers of employees and sales histories just in case someone looked. They hardly ever did. And there was the subgroup of wardrobe experts who created entire outfits for agents that fit their cover story and contained secret pockets sewn so cleverly even the agents missed some. And so many came back in poor condition if they came back at all. They all had the skills to design for celebrities, but they stayed here. 

The legal team certainly weren’t being paid as much as they could in the outside world. They had the gratitude of MI6, but the mockery of their peers. Nearly every case was lost. Or at least that’s how it appeared. If a mission ever made it to court, you can bet it was a carefully edited one. And if no other details were dug up, then the case had really been won. 

Q branch made sacrifices too. Inventions were lost, prototypes destroyed. Many of their inventions couldn’t be patented for years and even then, the inventor couldn’t earn the royalties except in special circumstances. But Q hadn’t expected to make this sacrifice. 

“Go! Into the tunnels!” he shouted. “Leave everything. I’ll be right behind you.” He typed furiously at his keyboard, initiating the safeguards, shutting everything down. R&D was empty, he activated the vacuum protocol. Auto was clear. Same thing there. On his screen each lab was quickly empty of his staff and he locked them down. The people were safe. He could only hope to protect the technology next. 

When R had spotted the breach in their systems, they acted fast. But whoever it was, was good. Data was being combed through faster than they could repair the firewalls. A countdown seemed to have been triggered. He sent the standard message to the security staff to keep everyone away from the building. Then he got on the intercom and called for evacuation. 

A message popped up on his screen from R. Everyone was safely out of the branch. He ignored it. He had heard the ticking. Another click of his mouse and the blast doors sealed him inside the main room. He knew R would see. 

He intercepted the warning message meant for M. Silly graphics. He knew she was on her way back, but hopefully far enough away. He could only hope that he had bought them enough time to keep as many people safe as possible. He would stand here and repair the firewalls as best he could until, well, until whatever the end of the countdown meant. 

He typed quick, trying to reinforce the most important data. Suddenly, the next location had already been reinforced. R must be helping from the outside. He would make a good Q if necessary. 

He wondered if these were the same attackers who had stolen the list of agent names some months back. He wondered why they hadn’t stopped there. He wondered why only the information on James Bond was picked over in such great detail. He wondered when the ticking had stopped. 


End file.
